Nigel Barker & Wife Cristen Chin

America’s sexiest reality TV judge Nigel Barker from America’s Next Top Model was spotted in New York City over the July 4th weekend. "Noted fashion photographer" Nigel was with his wife Cristen Chin and son, Jack Barker (according to IMDB). Nigel and Cristen, both formerly of Q Model Management, have been married for five years. More pictures of Nigel, wife Cristen, and son Jack after in the gallery!

UPDATE :: Q Model Management dropped a line saying that Cristen Chin is still very much a model with them!

Two Models Marry in Style

By Eri Kim

Fashion Wire Daily NY – March 9, 2001 – Model couple Cristen Chin, 26, and Nigel Barker, 28, – both with Q Model Management – met six and a half years ago through Barker’s friend and agent in Milan. And while his paramour was only a teenager, Barker knew immediately he had met the woman of his life. But it took him two months to convince Chin that he "was worthy" before she agreed to become his girlfriend. To prove just how serious he was, Barker moved from his native England to Paris, where Chin was living, and when she decided to move to New York, he followed her again. After three years as an item, Chin — who has recently been seen in Glamour, Cosmopolitan and French Vogue — finally started to think about marriage.

"It took me a bit longer than him before I knew that I’d marry him, but I figured he followed me enough around the world," Chin says, laughing.

When the wedding date (October 16th) and place had finally been set, the couple had to deal with the reality of organizing a destination wedding.

"All her life she wanted to marry in Fairhope, in Alabama where she’s from, and we had 90 people flying in from all over the world. 70 of them stayed with us a whole week," says Barker. "45 friends and family members of mine came from England, altogether we had 190 guests, so it was a fairly big wedding.

" Instead of booking hotel rooms for their guests, Chin and Barker rented two houses with 16 rooms each, and each guest chipped in for the houses. But the wedding being more than a one-day affair, entertaining those who had made the effort to come was another matter. Making use of Fairhope’s location, which is right by the Gulf of Mexico, boat trips on Chin’s father’s boat were planned every day, golf tournaments were held and the bride and groom put guides of the city’s best restaurants in every guest’s room. All the worry and preparation was worth it, says Chin.

"To think all of these people are here, just for us, it was the most overwhelming feeling," says Chin. "You just feel so loved and to get all the support – it’s such a happy occasion, especially when you’re the bride."

Apart from juggling their guests’ schedules and room and board, the two, like any other couple, had to go through all the other preparations involved in a wedding. At that occasion, it was Chin who showed her skills for organization.

"The best thing to do is to have a filing system for everything," Chin advises. "In hindsight, I would have hired [a wedding planner] but I didn’t think of it then. I’d rip out pictures I liked, looked for new ideas and also talking people who had gone through it before was really helpful."

To make things easier for their friends scattered around the globe, the couple registered in London and New York. "That was fun," Chin remembers. "Here, we registered with Bloomingdale’s — after looking at different places, it was the easiest and had the most variety."

The one thing that put Chin at an advantage was her job. "I’d done bridal shoots before, so I knew exactly the dress I wanted," she says about her silk taffeta strapless gown with a "puffy skirt" from Po Couture. And a friend from London who is also a make-up artist did the bride’s and bridesmaids’ makeup. "The hairdresser was from town, and because it was Alabama it wasn’t expensive," Chin explains. "But it was nice for all the girls to get the hair and makeup done."

When it comes to photographers, Chin advises hanging out with the snapper before the wedding. "Even if it’s just meeting for a drink — it’s better than to meet them on the big day for the first time, when everything is crazy."

Looking back at the wedding held at outside the southern style, brick and wood Grand Hotel, at sunset overlooking the water, Chin and Barker both agree they wouldn’t have done anything differently.

"It was certainly the best day of my life," says Barker. But proving just how much effort a wedding takes, Chin admits she still has dreams about it. Laughingly she says: "It feels like a loss because you put so much planning into it — I sometimes dream it hasn’t happened yet."